Aew Capital Management L P Cuts Position in Equinix, Inc. $EQIX

Aew Capital Management L P decreased its holdings in shares of Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,300 shares during the quarter. Equinix makes up about 6.8% of Aew Capital Management L P’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Aew Capital Management L P owned 0.16% of Equinix worth $122,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equinix by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,291,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,410,575,000 after buying an additional 162,638 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Equinix by 3.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,249,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,971,512,000 after acquiring an additional 220,981 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Equinix by 25.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,875,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,252,094,000 after acquiring an additional 588,967 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Equinix by 3.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,969,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,542,595,000 after purchasing an additional 56,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equinix during the second quarter valued at approximately $892,431,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on EQIX shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equinix in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Equinix from $785.00 to $894.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $915.00 price target on shares of Equinix in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Equinix from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective on shares of Equinix in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,001.41.

Insider Activity at Equinix

In other news, insider Kurt Pletcher sold 596 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $801.78, for a total value of $477,860.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,561,687.10. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 2,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $804.08, for a total transaction of $2,146,893.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 14,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,946,216.56. This represents a 15.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,353 shares of company stock valued at $11,283,043. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Equinix Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of EQIX stock opened at $951.90 on Wednesday. Equinix, Inc. has a 12-month low of $701.41 and a 12-month high of $992.90. The company has a market capitalization of $93.52 billion, a PE ratio of 69.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $819.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $797.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The financial services provider reported $8.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.07 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Equinix had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 14.65%.Equinix’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.92 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $5.16 per share. This is an increase from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.69. This represents a $20.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 25th. Equinix’s payout ratio is 136.44%.

About Equinix

Equinix, Inc is a global provider of digital infrastructure and interconnection services, specializing in carrier-neutral data centers and colocation. The company operates a platform that enables enterprises, cloud and network service providers, and content companies to colocate IT infrastructure, interconnect directly with partners and providers, and access cloud on-ramps and network services in a secure, low-latency environment.

Equinix’s offerings include traditional colocation space and power, cross-connects and meet-me rooms, and a suite of connectivity and on-demand services designed for hybrid multicloud architectures.